Lawmakers Will Proceed on Climate Plan

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Leaders Focus on System of Tradeable Allowances for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Legislative leaders in the House and Senate said yesterday that they plan to press ahead with proposals to limit U.S. emissions linked to global warming, focusing on mandatory, economy-wide caps of the kind that President Bush explicitly rejected last week in a climate conference he hosted.

While the bills are less ambitious than many climate scientists and environmental activists have wanted, they indicate that Congress plans to press ahead with a sweeping climate change proposal despite the president's opposition.

Yesterday, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee issued a white paper outlining a cap-and-trade system that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent below current levels. Under the system envisioned by Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and a key subcommittee chairman, Rick Boucher (D-Va.), the federal government would distribute greenhouse gas allowances that could be bought and sold, though the lawmakers left open the possibility of using taxes as well.

It remains unclear how much Republican support Dingell and Boucher's proposal will enjoy in the House, and when legislation might advance. Asked whether GOP members backed the plan, Dingell spokeswoman Jodi Seth responded in an e-mail, "You'll have to check with the Republicans."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302203.html?hpid=topnews